If your phone is out of contract and money is tight then consider switching to PAYG to save a few bob.
Paying out for a contract tariff every month mightbe a waste of moneythat you need elsewhere in your budget.
How Does Pay as You Go Work?
With a pay as you go plan, you prepay for a certain amount of credit whichis added totheaccount. Thehandsetcanbe usedto make calls andtexts uptothat amount and will then stop working. Once the credit is used up it is simply a matter of topping up and the handset is ready to be used again.
Who Should be on PAYG?
Light users tend to be those of the older generationwho livedmost of their lifewithout amobile phone. Familiesandfriendsmay beencouraging themto get amobile phone forsafety reasons but they really do not want one.
They may findthat £10.00 worth of credit can easily last them for 6 months or even more. This means it is far more cost effective than signing upto a contract plan that offers free calls or texts.
Pay as you go handsets are also ideal for a child’s first phone. Because the credit is limited and a child tends to get carried away with the novelty of having their own mobile phone, call charges can be horrendous.
They are perfect for those who need to keep a tight rein on the household budget without having to compromise with losing the security of having a mobile communication device.
PAYG Makes it Easy to Control Bills
With a pay as you go handset there is no need to worry about getting a large bill at the end of the month, even if the handset has been used more than the previous few weeks.
With acontract phone it isreally hard to judge the amount of usage, and very easytoget carried away when ona phone callor sending textmessages. With a pay as you go phone, the user is always awarethat there is just a small amount ofcredit. When they make a call they say just what they need tobefore hangingup.
The great thing about it is if they do need to make longer calls, they can simply buy a credit voucher, top up online or over the phone with their network provider customer service department. Calls from the handset to customer service are free of charge too.
Also depending on the network provider, who all have their own terms of service, top up creditvouchers canbe bought from as little as £5.00 up to £50.00. They can be bought in many shops from newsagents to supermarkets and over the counter in stores such as Carphone Warehouse or the network providers own retail outlet. When you call customer service to top up the credit you have a choice of ways to pay including a variety of debit and credit cards.
Phil Turner has found that the best pay as you go tariff changes every few months, but that smaller networks like Three, Tesco Mobile and Giffgaff are generally cheaper.
